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Most homeowners don’t give much thought to the ceiling until it comes time to decorate. Ceiling height can make or break your efforts to create a comfortable, stylish space. Low ceilings make a room feel cramped and small, while high ceilings can feel too formal and cold. Standard ceilings are typically 8 or 9 feet high, depending on the age of your home. Anything above or below this can cause some decorating problems, but with a bit of planning you can overcome many of them.

Color Options

Low ceilings feel lower if you use dark colors, while lighter shades in rooms with high ceilings enhance the open feeling, ruining your efforts at creating a cozy space. But you can have the colors you want in your space. If the ceiling is too low, paint it in cool colors to give the illusion of height. You can then use a similar color, but a shade or two darker on your walls. Go for light colors on the walls, and bring pops of color in with furniture, accessories and fabric. If your problem is a high ceiling, warm colors on the ceiling give the illusion of bringing the ceiling down, making the room feel cozier. Use the same color on the walls and ceiling, or a shade darker or lighter for contrast.

Lighting

Lighting can be difficult in rooms with low ceilings. Fixtures that hang too low, such as chandeliers, become a nuisance instead of a feature because you have to duck to avoid colliding with them. Low-hanging fixtures also emphasize the low height of the ceiling. This is why in rooms with low ceilings, it’s better to choose flush or semi-flush lighting fixtures or even recessed lighting. Chandeliers and ceiling fans are ideal in rooms with high ceilings because they visually divide the room into two smaller halves and visually lower the ceiling. Flush light fixtures tend to draw the eye upward, emphasizing the ceiling height.

Architectural Elements

A low ceiling makes it difficult to add horizontal architectural elements like beams, chair rails and moldings because the horizontal lines emphasize the low ceiling. Remove chair rails, and if possible, eliminate moldings and beams to create a solid line all the way up to the ceiling. In a room with a high ceiling, horizontal lines work better, breaking up the walls and minimizing the empty space near the ceiling, so go ahead and install chair rails. Decorative ceiling medallions, beams and thick crown molding also work well to advance the ceiling and make it feel lower.

Furniture

Choosing furniture can be a problem when ceilings are too low because bulky, classic elements such as a sectional sofa only serve to emphasize the short height. But you can have the comfort of a bulky sofa if you balance the horizontal lines by adding furniture with vertical lines. Tall book cases and fabrics with vertical stripes draw the eye upward, giving the illusion of height. Also opt for pieces with a lower profile. For example, use wingback side chairs instead of modern chairs because these tend to be lower. Try to keep all furniture the same basic height to further draw the eye from the low ceiling. In a room with high ceilings, the problem is creating a space that doesn’t feel empty. In this case, vertical stripes only make the problem worse. Instead, choose furniture with strong horizontal lines, such as wall-mounted shelves and fabrics with horizontal stripes.

About the Author

Renee Miller began writing professionally in 2008, contributing to websites and the "Community Press" newspaper. She is co-founder of On Fiction Writing, a website for writers. Miller holds a diploma in social services from Clarke College in Belleville, Ontario.